Hawaiians had a scare when someone "pushed the wrong button" and sent a statewide message about a (false) nuclear threat. (Not to be confused with other high-profile nuclear threats from a certain Twitter account.)

Poorly designed tech was the culprit. From the Washington Post: "Around 8:05 a.m., the Hawaii emergency employee initiated the internal test, according to a timeline released by the state. From a drop-down menu on a computer program, he saw two options: 'Test missile alert' and 'Missile alert.' He was supposed to choose the former; as much of the world now knows, he chose the latter, an initiation of a real-life missile alert."

As always, let's ask... is technology leading to good outcomes? Who benefits from Big Tech? And in the spirit of MLK Day, what does freedom look like in a tech-infused society?

Mon. 1/15/18 6:17pm
northguineahills:
@chris: or anywhere.... if it came from Russia or China, people in the blast zone are instantly vaporized and the fallout is somewhat limited. From Best Korea....???????

Mon. 1/15/18 6:19pm
david from ks:
,,,DJMH ,,, VERY GOOD subject . I always had that thought back in the dark space of My brain that is not filled with aluminum particulates that stop thought conducting.

Mon. 1/15/18 6:36pm
Mark Hurst:
Call in at 201-209-9368. What role should tech play in freedom and democracy?

Mon. 1/15/18 6:37pm
Webhamster Henry:
My family used to do something called "Power Day Off" where we tried not to use electricity or gas or drive around on Sundays. It's an interesting take on "Sabbath".

Mon. 1/15/18 6:37pm
Ken From Hyde Park:
Zats, missed first half due to a nap situation. Quality time off the internet, you know?

Mon. 1/15/18 6:40pm
Webhamster Henry:
MArk: Have you read Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody", which is about how these social tools overpower the usual channels of dissent? You should have him on anyway.

Mon. 1/15/18 6:41pm
herb.nyc:
vg interview! if (and when) Google and Facebook and Amazon and... are allowed to have a standing army, then it'll be over.

Mon. 1/15/18 6:42pm
herb.nyc:
I've started using DuckDuckGo as well. but really, why a duck? why a no chicken?

Mon. 1/15/18 6:42pm
northguineahills:
@Henry: an interesting different diurnal take on the Orthodox Sabbos .

/atheist from a Methodist background.

Mon. 1/15/18 6:42pm
northguineahills:
@herb: You should be thing 'goose', not, other poultry/

Mon. 1/15/18 6:49pm
Rudy:
Ixquick is also an alternative to Google too btw, done by the same people who made StartPage. But DuckDuckGo is the best engine IMO with its system of bangs, allowing you to use it as a hub for other websites (!w redirects your search to Wikipedia, !r to Reddit, etc.)

Mon. 1/15/18 6:49pm
Jim:
Sadly, the analysis of behaviors of modern humans by large corporations is not being used for the benefit of these humans, but as a commerce weapon. The typical human on a smart device doesn’t have a chance to resist this tweaking.

Mon. 1/15/18 6:59pm
Mark Hurst:
Thanks, all! Let's get ready for a great 2018. Appreciate all of you being on team Techtonic.

Mon. 1/15/18 7:05pm
drew:
Software will continue to have bugs like the bad menu configuration in the Hawaii story because nobody sues software companies for that stuff so there is no economic incentive to change the industry. Despite the job titles, we programmers aren't really "engineers" for that same reason. There's a similar lack of pressure for all of the Internet of things as seen in the CES story. So to make the world better, convince more people to sue because of crappy software.
And I don't even know where to begin with the conspiracy theorist's book so I'll just leave it at that.